Greece pushes maritime talks with Libya to counter Turkey’s 2019 pact

Athens is stepping up discussions with Libya aimed at reaching an agreement on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the Mediterranean, in a move seen as a response to the 2019 maritime accord between Libya and Turkey.

“We have agreed to advance discussions within the technical committees concerning the delimitation of the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.

The southeastern Mediterranean has long been marked by complex and often contested maritime boundaries, tensions that have intensified in recent years amid evidence of significant offshore gas reserves.

In 2019, Turkey signed a maritime agreement with Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), drawing a boundary that disregards Greek islands such as Crete. The deal prompted strong objections from Greece, the European Union and Egypt, all of which consider it invalid and contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Although Libya’s parliament has yet to ratify the agreement, Ankara maintains that it is valid and views Greece’s current initiative as an attempt to undermine it.

In Athens, the 2019 accord has been widely interpreted as a Turkish effort to challenge the principle that Greek islands are entitled to their own EEZs.

Turkey, which has not ratified UNCLOS, argues instead that maritime boundaries in the Aegean should be drawn along a median line between the two mainland coasts.

The Greek leader emphasised that any agreement with Libya would be fully in line with international law, “as it has been with other countries in the region”, citing Greece’s existing maritime accords with Italy and Egypt.

Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, has called on Turkey to seek partnership instead of “thinking along the lines of hegemony.”

“I hope that Turkey will become again a constructive player because it’s an important country in our region, but it seems unlikely in the foreseeable future,” he told Euractiv in an interview.